'Advice to aspiring writers'

3 December 2012

'Read. But assuming they are already people who can't sit down at breakfast without reading the cereal packet, then I would say write the sort of things you like to read. Don't write what anybody else tells you is popular. Publishers don't know - all they know is what were last year's bestsellers. The insolence of daring to say to you what ought to be written. Disregard it.'

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'A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face.... It is one of the few havens remaining where [your] mind can get both provocation and privacy.'